Band working with CDC to control disease outbreak
By KAREN AUGE
Denver Post
Last Updated: July 28, 2003
The Colorado band String Cheese Incident is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, trying to help end an outbreak of hepatitis A among its followers.
The CDC confirms it is investigating outbreaks of the liver disease among fans traveling from concert to concert and camping out to hear the band this summer.
"We've gotten reports of a number of hepatitis A cases among the young adults that attend those concerts," said Llelwyn Grant, spokesman for the CDC.
Grant said the CDC is working with California's health department and the band, investigating how the outbreak started and trying to figure out how to stop it.
California health officials said 10 people have been infected there.
Grant said potential sources of the outbreak include contaminated food or water. The disease is contagious.
The band "is used to being proactive and keeping the scene healthy and safe" and wanted to be a resource for the CDC, said Carrie Lombardi, the band's publicist.
She said the band is concerned about how one published report implied a link between String Cheese Incident and the disease. There is none, she said.
"We're just trying to help out," she said.
"Based on how this tour has traveled, a number of states may eventually be connected," Grant said.
